Ron Paul speech after 2nd place finish in Maine caucus 2/11/2012

27% Second Place Finish in Minnesota: Ron Paul Breaks through Yet Another Ceiling!

Romney wins Nevada, hanging on to frontrunner status

Romney Triumphs in Florida

Ron Paul Interview on ABC’s ‘This Week’

The World is Endorsing Ron Paul For President 2012

Ron Paul ~ I Think We Can Get Out Of Our Mess By Having People Read The Constitution And Obey It

Ron Paul Post FL Primary Speech ~ 1-30-2012

2 Parties vs Ron Paul – Judge Andrew Napolitano

Who is winning the race for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination?

On March 13 Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum won 18 delegates in Alabama, 13 delegates in Mississippi and no delegates in America Soma. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won 11 delegates in Alabama, 12 delegates in Mississippi, and 9 delegates in America Soma. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won 12 delegates in Alabama and 11 delegates in Mississippii and none in Americ Soma. Texas Rep Ron Paul did win a single delegate.

On March 10 Romney won 9 delegates in Guam, 9 delegates in the Northern Marinas, 7 delegates in the Virgin Islands and 7 delegates in Kansas for a total of 32 delegates. Santorum won the most delegates in Kansas, 33. Paul won a single delegate in the Virgin Islands. Gingrich won no delegates.

Romney with 449 delegates is clearly the front-runner in the race for the 1,144 delegates needed to be nominated the Republican presidential candidate. Santorum is in second place with 224 delegates. Gingrich is in third place with 144 delegates. Paul is in fourth place with 73 delegates.

On March 6 Super TuesdayRomney won the most delegates in Alaska, Idaho, Massachusetts, Ohio Vermont and Virginia. Sen. Rick Santorum won the most delegates in Oklahoma, North Dakota and Tennessee. Gingrich won 43 delegates out of 76 delegates in his home state of Georgia. Paul did not win a single state but did add a total of 21 delegates in Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont and Virginia.

On March 3 Romney won the Washington primary with 19,111 votes or 37.65 percent of the popular vote winning 16 delegates. Ron Paul came in second with 12,954 votes or 24.81 percent of the popular vote winning 10 delegates. Santorum came in third with 12,089 votes or 23.81 percent. Gingrich received 5,221 votes or 10.28 percent of the popular vote.

On Feb.28, Romney won the Michigan and Arizona primaries. Both Michigan and Arizona were penalized for scheduling their primary early and lost 50 percent of their delegates. Arizona was a closed primary with the statewide winner taking all the 29 delegates. Michigan was an open primary with winner-take-all in each congressional district and proportional for the statewide delegates.

Romney received 216,085 votes or 44.27 percent of the popular vote, thereby winning all of Arizona’s 29 delegates. Santorum received 122,008 votes or 26.62 percent of the popular vote. Gingrich received 74,110 votes or 16.66 percent of the popular vote. Paul received 38,753 votes or 8.45 percent of the popular vote.

Romney defeated Santorum in Michigan’s open primary by over 30,000 vote. Romney received 409,131 votes or 40.07 percent of the popular vote, winning 15 delegates. Santorum received 377, 153 or 37.86 of the popular vote, winning 13 delegates. Paul came in third with 115,778 votes or 11.62percent of the vote and received zero delegates. Gingrich came in fourth with 65,007 or 6.53 percent and received zero delegates.

On Feb. 11, Romney narrowly beat Paul in the Maine caucus by just 194 votes. Romney received 2,190 or 39.6 percent of the popular vote, winning eight delegates. Paul received 1,996 or 36.1 percent of the popular vote, winning eight delegates. Santorum came in third with 989 or 17.9 percent of the popular vote, winning four delegates. Gingrich came in fourth with 349 or 6.3 percent of the popular vote, winning one delegate.

Since several Maine counties have scheduled their county caucuses after Feb. 11, the vote count will change. Washington County was the only county caucus scheduled for Feb. 11 that was postponed due to a forecasted 3-5-inch snow storm. Washington County was expected to heavily favor Paul over Romney based on the Feb. 7 precinct caucus results.

The voters of Maine are usually accustomed to driving on snow-covered roads. Several counties along Maine’s coastline had the same snow storm forecast including Cumberland County, which includes Portland, where Romney ran ahead of Paul. The Washington County caucus postponement appears politically motivated. Romney’s campaign needed a first-place win in Maine to counter the momentum of Santorum’s three wins in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Paul was apparently robbed of a first-place finish by Maine’s Republican Party’s decision to postpone the Washington County caucus due to snow.

When all the votes are counted next week, Paul said, “If I were a betting man, I would bet that we will control the Maine caucus when we go to Tampa,” the site of the Republican National Convention.

Romney is still the national front-runner in the race for the Republican Party’s nomination for president with an estimated total of 107 delegates. Santorum is second with 43 delegates, former Speaker of the House Gingrich is third with 42 delegates and Paul is fourth with 36 delegates.

On Feb. 7, Santorum jolted the race for 1,144 delegates and the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination by a three state sweep of first place finishes in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri. In his victory speech to his supporters, Santorum said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.” His supporters shouted, “We pick Rick.”

Santorum won the Republican open non-binding Minnesota caucus on Feb. 7 with 21,436 or 44.81 percent of the popular vote, winning 17 delegates. Paul came in second with 13,030 or 27.24 percent of the popular vote, winning 10 delegates. Romney came in third with 8,096 or 16.92 percent of the popular vote, winning 6 delegates. Gingrich came in fourth with 5,134 or 10.73 percent or 10.73 percent of the popular vote, winning 4 delegates.

No candidate won any of the 52 delegates in the Missouri “straw poll” or non-binding primary on Feb.7. However, Santorum won with the primary with 138,957 or 55.17 percent of the popular vote. Romney came in second with 63,826 or 25.34 percent of the popular vote. Paul came in third with 30,641 or 12.17 percent of the popular vote. Delegates will be selected on the March 7 county caucus.

Santorum also won the Republican closed non-binding Colorado caucus on Feb.7 with 26,372 or 40.24 percent of the populat vote, winning 13 delegates. Romney came in second with 22,875 or 34.91 percent of the popular vote winning 12 delegates. Gingrich came in third with 8,394 or 12.81 percent of the popular vote, winning 4 delegates. Paul came in fourth with 7,713 or 11.77 percent of the popular vote, winning 4 delegates.

Romney won the Republican closed Nevada Caucus on Feb. 5 with 16,486 or 50.10 percent of the popular vote, winning 14 delegates. Romney beat out second place finisher, Gingrich, with 6,956 votes or 21.10 percent of the popular vote, winning 6 delegates. Paul finished third with 6,175 votes or 18.73 percent of the popular vote, winning 5 delegates. Santorum came in fourth with 3,277 votes or 9.94percent of the popular vote. winning 3 delegates.

Romney won the Republican Party’s closed Florida primary on Jan 31 with 774,989 votes or 46.42 percent of the popular vote, thereby winning all of the state’s 50 delegates. Romney beat out second place finisher, Gingrich, with 533,091 votes or 31.93 percent of the popular vote. Santorum came in third with 222,790 votes or 13.34 percent of the popular vote. Paul finished fourth with 117,100 votes or 7.01 percent of the popular vote.

Romney has now won in five states–Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina Florida and Nevada–and has a total of 99 delegates with an estimated total popular vote of 1,117,894. In second place is Gingrich, with a total of 41delegates with an estimated total popular vote of 837,302. In third place is former Santorum with 39 delegates with an estimated total popular vote of 381,793 votes. In fourth place is Paul with 28 delegates with an estimated total popular vote of 305,228.

Gingrich will petition the Republican Party of Florida to allocate delegates proportionally rather than on a winner-take-all basis. Republican Party rule 15 (b) (2) clearly states “Any presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other meeting held for the purpose of selecting delegates to the national convention which occurs prior to the first day of April in the year in which the national convention is held, shall provide for the allocation of delegates on a proportional basis.” This rule was approved by the Republican Party National committee in August 2010 for the 2012 Presidential nominating process. If Gingrich is successful, Romney would receive 23 delegates instead of 50 and Gingrich would receive 16 delegates instead of zero. Gingrich would then have a total of 48 delegates and would be slightly behind Romney with 54 delegates.

The estimated total delegate count is summarized in the table below:

Republican Party U.S. Presidential 2012

Estimated Delegate Count By Candidate and State

State

Romney

Gingrich

Santorum

Paul

Totals*

Iowa

6

4

6

6

28

New Hampshire

9

0

0

3

12

South Carolina

2

23

0

0

25

Florida

50

0

0

0

50

Nevada

14

6

3

5

28

Minnesota

6

4

17

10

40

Colorado

12

4

13

4

36

Maine

8

2

4

7

24

Arizona

29

0

0

0

29

Michigan

15

0

15

0

30

Wyoming

10

2

8

6

29

Washington

16

4

10

10

43

Alaska

8

3

7

6

27

Georgia

13

46

2

0

76

Idaho

32

0

0

0

32

Massachusetts

38

0

0

0

41

North Dakota

7

2

11

8

28

Ohio

35

0

21

0

66

Oklahoma

13

13

14

0

43

Tennessee

10

8

25

0

58

Vermont

9

0

4

4

17

Virginia

43

0

0

3

49

Guam

9

0

0

0

9

Northern Marianas

9

0

0

0

9

Virgin Islands

7

0

0

1

9

Kansas

7

0

33

0

40

America Soma

9

0

0

0

9

Alabama

11

14

22

0

50

Mississippi

12

12

13

0

40

Hawaii

9

0

5

3

20

Missouri

0

0

0

0

52

Utah

0

0

0

0

40

Washington

16

4

10

10

43

Puerto Rico

20

0

0

0

23

Illinois

42

0

12

0

69

Louisiana

5

0

10

0

46

District of Columbia

0

0

0

0

19

Maryland

0

0

0

0

37

Wisconsin

0

0

0

0

42

0

0

0

0

0

Totals

521

148

249

73

1205

*Totals include all delegates including those that are available but not pledged to a candidate such as each state’s party leadership delegates or delegates for candidates that have dropped out of the race.

*Wyoming has a total of 29 delegates consisting of 3 congressional district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, 3 party leader delegates and 13 bonus delegates.

On Feb. 28 the voters of Michigan voted in an open primary.

Results for Michigan Republican Primary

U.S. Presidential Feb. 28, 2012

Candidate

Popular Vote

Percentage

Delegates*

Willard “Mitt” Romney

409,131

40.07%

15

Richard J. “Rick” Santorum

377,153

37.86%

13

Ronald E. “Ron” Paul

115,778

11.62%

0

Newton Leroy “Newt” Gingrich

65,007

6.53%

0

Available

2

Totals

996,156

100.00%

30

Source: The Green Papers, 2012 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses and Conventions.http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/MI-R*Michigan would have had a total of 59 delegates consisting of 42 congressional district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, 3 party leader delegates and 4 bonus delegates. However, the state rescheduled the state primary to Feb. 28 and under the Rules of the Republican Party forfeited 50 percent of its delegates. Also, the three state party leader delegates attend the national convention as guests.

On Feb. 28 the voters of Arizona voted in an open primary.

Results for Arizona Republican Primary

U.S. Presidential Feb. 28, 2012

Candidate

Popular Vote

Percentage

Delegates*

Willard “Mitt” Romney

216,805

47.27%

29

Richard J. “Rick” Santorum

122,088

26.62%

0

Newton Leroy “Newt” Gingrich

74,110

16.66%

0

Ronald E. “Ron” Paul

38,753

8.45%

0

Totals

458,681

100.00%

50

Source: The Green Papers, 2012 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses and Conventions.http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/AZ-R#0228*Arizona would have had a total of 58 delegates consisting of 27 congressional district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, 3 party leader delegates and 18 bonus delegates. However, the state rescheduled the state primary to Jan. 22 and under the Rules of the Republican Party forfeited 50 percent of its delegates. Also, the three state party leader delegates attend the national convention as guests.

*Maine has a total of 24 delegates consisting of 6 congressional district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, 3 party leader delegates and 5 bonus delegates. The 24 National Convention delegates are not bound to the candidate.

*Minnesota has a total of 40 delegates consisting of 24 congressional district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, 3 party leader delegates and 3 bonus delegates. The 40 National Convention delegates are proportionally bound to Presidential candidates based on the caucus vote.

*Colorado has a total of 36 delegates consisting of 21 congressional district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, 3 party leader delegates and 2 bonus delegates. The 36 National Convention delegates are are not bound to Presidential candidates.

On Feb.5 the voters of Nevada voted in the second closed causus state.

*Nevada has a total of 28 delegates consisting of 12 congressional district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, 3 party leader delegates and 3 bonus delegates. The 28 National Convention delegates are proportionally bounf to Presidential candidates based on the caucus vote.

On Jan. 31 the voters of Florida voted in the first closed primary state where the candidate with the most votes statewide receives all of the state’s 50 delegates. Romney won and received all Florida’s 50 delegates.

*Florida would have had a total of 99 delegates consisting of 21 congressional district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, 3 party leader delegates and 16 bonus delegates. However, the state rescheduled the state primary to Jan. 22 and under the Rules of the Republican Party forfeited 50 percent of its delegates. Also, the three state party leader delegates attend the national convention as guests.

On Jan. 21 the voters of South Carolina voted in the second open primary state where the candidate with the most votes statewide receives 11 delegates and the winner in each congressional district receives two delegates. Gingrich won statewide and received 11 delegates and won six congressional districts for additional 12 delegates for a total of 23 delegates. Romney won one congressional district and received two delegates.

*South Carolina would have had a total of 50 delegates consisting of 21 congressional district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, 3 party leader delegates and 16 bonus delegates. However, the state rescheduled the state primary to Jan. 22 and under the Rules of the Republican Party forfeited 50 percent of its delegates. Also, the three state party leader delegates attend the national convention as guests.

On Jan 10 the voters of New Hampshire voted in the first state primary where the states 12 delegates were bound proportionally to presidential contenders based on the primary vote statewide.

*New Hampshire would have had a total of 23 delegates consisting of six district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, three party leader delegates and four bonus delegates. However, the state rescheduled the state primary to Jan. 10 and under the rules of the Republican Party forfeited 50 percent of its delegates. Also, the three state party leader delegates attend the national convention as nonvoting delegates.

On Jan. 3 the voters of Iowa met in 1,774 precinct caucuses to vote for their choice for the Republican presidential candidate by electing delegates to their county conventions. The 99 county conventions then select delegates to the Iowa Congressional District Convention and the State Convention on June 12. This convention determines the delegates to the Republican National Convention. In 2012 Iowa will send 28 delegates to the nominating convention including 10 at-large, 12 for the four congressional districts (three per district), three party and three bonus. However, unlike other states where delegates are usually bound for the first vote, Iowa delegates are soft-pledged or not bound to vote for a particular candidate.

*Iowa has a total of 28 delegates consisting of 12 district delegates, 10 at-large delegates, three party leader delegates and three bonus delegates. The 25 non- party leader delegates were allocated to the candidates with more than five percent of the popular vote. This is an estimate that will change by the time the state convention meets.

On Super Tuesday, March 6, the greatest number of states hold their primary and caucus elections with the greatest number of national convention delegates, 437, elected on a single date. There are seven primary states–Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia; and three caucus states–Alaska, Idaho and North Dakota holding elections on this date.

A firm date for the Texas open primary is still awaiting a federal court decision by a three-judge panel in San Antonio approving Texas voting maps. The primary will most likely take place on May 29 for 155 delegates.

[Raymond Thomas Pronk is host of the Pronk Pops Show on KDUX web radio from 3-5 p.m. Wednesdays and author of the companion blog www.pronkpops.wordpress.com]